New governors usher in era of labor union reform

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Daily Caller:

The AFL-CIO, the New York Times reported, recently distributed an internal memo warning its members that in several states around the country, Republicans may pursue new laws with the goal of financially starving labor unions. This trend has public employee unions worrying that lawmakers will finally scale back the extent to which unions eat up state budgets.

In New York, newly sworn-in Democratic Governor Andrew Cuomo promises a one-year pay freeze for government workers to combat the state’s fiscal woes.

Ohio’s new governor, Republican John Kasich, is taking on unions by, among other things, looking to ban teachers’ union strikes. “If they want to strike, they should be fired,” Kasich said recently in a speech. “They’ve got good jobs, they’ve got high pay, they get good benefits, a great retirement. What are they striking for?”

Similarly, Scott Walker – the new Republican governor of Wisconsin – wants to take away the right of government workers to collectively bargain contracts. “The bottom line is that we are going to look at every legal means we have to try to put that balance more on the side of taxpayers,” he said recently.